Top: A MASTER brooch with seven moonstones was designed by Jensen in 1914. (Photograph by Bruce White.) Bottom: A 1969 necklace was designed by Steffen Anderson for Jensen. Both pieces are on display until October at the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design and Culture in New York. (Photograph courtesy of The Silver Fund Collection.)

“The world is little when it comes to Georg Jensen,” says Soren Jensen (no relation), an independent dealer in New York who has been selling secondhand Jensen for three decades. “We all know each other. Jensen collectors are after the pure Jensen design, which, for them, is the heart of the matter. And when something is that pure, buying and selling is almost irrelevant.”

Jensen was originally trained as a sculptor at Copenhagen’s Royal Academy of Art, and turned to silver work full time in the early 1900s. From nearly the moment the 37-year-old opened his shop at 36 Bredgade in Copenhagen, his detailed, finely wrought works—in the early years, mostly cloak pins and hat pins—were in demand. Eventually, simple elegant vessels and flatware followed. Rejecting the mass-produced items of the machine age, Jensen embellished his simple, sculptural designs with naturalistic forms the vines, grapes, blossoms and pinecones found in the Danish countryside. His work was instantly recognized by museum curators and chic international buyers. By 1909, the company had stores in Berlin, Paris, London and Buenos Aires and, by 1924, in New York. As the company grew and new designers joined the staff, the early, gently embellished pieces gave way to sleeker and more modern designs, until the spare, unadorned, almost futuristic Jensen work of the 1930s, ’40s and beyond became synonymous with Scandinavian design.

An Enduring Value
While the current buzz in the Jensen world centers on the high prices fetched for hollowware and flatware at a Christie’s auction in January, the most prominent collectors remain passionate about the jewelry. “My grandmother had a piece of Jensen—a brooch—so I grew up knowing what Jensen was,” says longtime aficionado Kitty Jacobs of South Egremont, Mass., where she and her husband, Martin, run the Splendid Peasant, a high-end American folk art business.

VALUE JUDGMENT Stratospheric prices for Georg Jensen’s silver hollowware and flatware at an auction in January still have the collector world buzzing over this early 20th-century Danish designer. His many jewelry collectors also are enjoying a marked increase in demand for his finest works, such as his Master brooches from the prewar era.

Jacobs remembers the first piece she bought: a pair of silver earrings purchased for $110 at a 1983 antique show in New York. “I always tried to bring things into my life that had an enduring value,” she says. “After the earrings, I was captivated and kept looking and looking at flea markets, auctions and antique dealers for more Jensen.” Her next purchase came after she met Janet Drucker, a respected purveyor and scholar of Jensen ware. “Under her guidance, I bought a bracelet with a matching necklace for $1,100. It was a serious jump for me then, and I felt nervous in my stomach, but I always bought knowing, because of the quality, the pieces have resale value.” Eventually, Jacobs began to buy more expensive pieces and sets, until she had to move a few things out of the house and into a safe-deposit box. “I have four pieces that are simply too expensive to keep in the house: two spectacular brooches and a Paris bracelet and necklace set,” she laughs. “I sort of resent these pieces because my collecting philosophy is that I want these things to be a part of my life.”

As Jacobs’ collection has grown, so have Jensen prices. This vindicates Jacobs’ buying strategy, but has put a crimp in her interest in purchasing more. “I just happened to be more attracted to the prewar pieces, pieces with the stones and with early marks, and that’s what I began to collect. In essence, I have ruined myself.” Recently an early, prewar piece came up on eBay, and Jacobs felt certain the seller did not know what he had. She lost the auction, which ended at $12,500, although Jacobs is sure the piece is worth much more. “I contacted the person to say, ‘If you have buyer’s remorse, I will buy it from you.’” But word came back from a prominent Jensen dealer that it had purchased the piece for a client. “So, there you go. No doubt the client will pay top dollar.”

Collectors aver that one of the best aspects of Jensen jewelry is its versatility; you can wear it with elegant clothing or simply with jeans and T-shirts, and yet it remains singular in its status. “Jensen is recognizable; when someone knows that a piece is Jensen, it is very satisfying,” Jacobs admits. “But on the other hand, I ride the subway sometimes wearing thousands of dollars of Jensen, and it is just my little secret.”